Friday, September 4, 2015

Essay Series: Hot Topic Intensity

I love the internet. I love that you can find the answer to anything with just a few key strokes, that you can plan every facet of your life through so many outlets and that it has made our world incredibly small. One of the things I do not love about the internet is the bandwagon type mindset that it has created.

Somewhere between researching history projects and connecting with friends and family grew this monster of a gang mentality that I just do not understand. People are so quick to voice their opinion by simply clicking "share" on a post or article. I honestly wonder how many people actually read the whole thing or if they simply agree with the headline. It gets worse on publication websites where everything from politics to world affairs to lifestyle choices to celebrity gossip is being miscommunicated, extorted and slandered.

I understand, and believe me, appreciate the right of freedom of speech (hello, I'm standing on my soap box right now) but I'm just tired of the obvious lack of research most people do before they hop on whatever bandwagon is driving by that week.

For example, my Facebook and Instagram newsfeeds have a different trend monthly if not weekly. This week it is the refugees from Syria, prior to that it was Cecil the lion, Transgender Awareness, Bill Cosby, Ferguson etc, You get the point. ALL of these topics are IMPORTANT, do not get me wrong, I believe they should be talked about. My issue, is the intensity that these events have and their quick rise to "trending topics" the amount of times something is shared and commented on before they implode and are pushed aside for the next big issue.

And have you read through the comments on controversial topics? Holy moly. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but when you have to degrade someone by commenting on their appearance, race or religion to get your point across... c'mon people. I no longer consider your opinion warranted at that point.

My plea today is to simply read, educate yourself, form you own opinion and discuss (in a respectful way) all of these important issues. If you feel strongly about it, then share those articles, posts, photos and links with your friends and family, comment on a thread if you think your 2 cents are valid and respectful. And probably the most important, remember that if you want something to change in our world you have to be willing to be apart of it and support it for the long haul. They say Rome wasn't built in a day and no major advances globally were either. If you want to support a cause, you have to share the correct information and find other ways to make a change other than on the internet.

1 comment:

I completely agree that some people just aren't respectful on the internet. I am confident that some of the comments I see would not be made face to face. Some people feel so big behind their computer screens. This is especially bad for the comments made on celebrity instagram or twitter accounts. People need to just be nicer!